Are We Friends?
by Riseo
Summary: Stranded in a strange bubble at the bottom of the sea with no memories but his name, Steven finds himself in a whole world he didn't know he was a part of. Will he be able to regain what he's lost or forever be questioning just who he really is?
1. Stuck in a Bubble

_Hi, this is my first SU fanfiction to post here. ^^' I plan to post more chapters when I feel like updating, dunno how often I can update this, but enjoy what I have so far!_

_Lemme know your thoughts. :3  
_

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Somewhere deep below the ocean lied a pink bubble on the ocean floor. Inside of it was a young man, looking to be around the age of sixteen. He had brown, curly locks and wide, frightened eyes. The familiar black and yellow star shirt added to the identity of this boy, including his pink sandals and blue jeans.

He sat in the middle of the bubble, scanning the dark, empty ocean around him with fear. The only comfort he had was the small, blue glowstick beside his leg, and the remembrance of his name: Steven Universe. That was the only thing he could remember, _himself_.

He was Steven, son of – _Universe_? – and he knew he was supposed to be a gem. But what did that mean? What was a gem again? Upon further inspection of himself, he found what he assumed was a _gem_ lodged inside him stomach. It was pink and large, and it glowed and glimmered in the glowstick's light. He touched it with curiosity, his fingers gripping the edges of it to try to remove it.

However, doing so only made him feel ill and weak; something inside him screamed for it to stay. So, he took his hand away, unwilling to try again. _Why is this thing inside me?_ he thought, _Is this a part of me? Did someone put it here? Is this supposed to be in me?_

A large, narrow fish with jagged teeth and white, soulless eyes swam near the outside of the bubble and he yelped in alarm. He backed up as much as he could, which resulted in him slipping and sliding against the curved walls.

The fish quickly swam away, and Steven tried to make his heart stop beating so fast. He made sure it wasn't in sight anymore before he pressed his palms back against the bubble. He squinted at his surroundings.

It was a pitch-black abyss, only a few bubbles and fish showing in the minimal light that alerted him to being underwater. But why? And how? What was this giant pink bubble and why was he in it?

He rubbed his palms against the smooth, glass-like texture of the bubble. _How long can I breathe in here?_ He froze at the thought. _Do I have enough air? _

He suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe, like the bubble itself was closing around him. _Am I going to suffocate?_ He began to realize just how thirsty and hungry he was as well. _Am I going to starve? _The panic started to settle in as he pulled his legs close and squeezed his eyes shut. _Stop, stop. Everything is going to be okay._ He tried to calm down, despite how afraid he was. _Someone will come find you eventually and you'll get out of here,_ he told himself.

Yet the truth kept sinking into his head. Did he have any friends? Any family? Did anyone know him? Was he truly alone? Was anyone even around?

His thoughts began to overwhelm him. _I'm… I'm trapped in a bubble in the sea. I'm all alone…_ He dug his nails into his arms. _I'm all alone and I don't remember anything. I can't remember anyone._ His eyes stung. _Why is this happening? Why me?_ His throat stung. _I'm… I'm going to die. I'm going to die down here alone. And— and no one will even know._

Tears began to stream down his hot cheeks, and he drew his legs closer. The loneliness and desperation tugged at his stomach. "H… help," came the hoarse, whisper of his voice. "Help me… someone," he croaked again a bit louder to the empty sea around him. _Would anyone ever find me? Am I going to be trapped down here forever?_

_I just want to get out of here. Someone, please help me—_

Suddenly, in a deafening burst of air, the bubble exploded into millions of little bubbles all around him. Chilling cold water drenched his warm body immediately, shocking him out of his state of sadness. He started to float, shutting his eyes as liquid began to flood his nose and mouth. He choked, blinking and trying to hold in the only air he had left. He snatched the glowstick as it floated up.

Air bubbles drifted to the darkness above and he followed them. For a few moments, he swam and swam, using as much strength as he could to reach the surface. His grasp on the glowstick grew tighter, fighting to keep his eyes open and his lungs closed despite the pain from the sea pressure.

He felt weak, his limbs starting to tighten and slow. The surface wasn't so black anymore, he could see the blue hues above through a crack he began to swim through. He looked down at the ravine he appeared to have been in before. He gazed back up at the distant surface he so longed to get up to.

But he had to stop, his lungs wouldn't listen anymore, he needed oxygen. He clapped a hand to his mouth as bubbles burst from it. He sucked in liquid. _Oh no._ He choked. _I can't— I can't breathe—_ He kept drawing in liquid, his throat shutting in reflex. _Air— air—!_

He feebly paddled, his heart thudding in a weak panic. The glowstick slipped from his moving hands. His limbs slowed to a stop. His chest hurt, he watched bubbles float from his mouth. _Help… _His eyes grew heavy as he found himself floating back towards the ravine. _Help… me…_

His fingers twitched in front of him. His eyes slowly shut; the last thing he saw all but a dark shadow of something swimming towards him.


	2. Broken and Lost

_Hi. Here's a new chapter, I hope your week is swell! Enjoy. :D_

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Steven woke up abruptly, torn from his unconsciousness by a sudden forceful thrust on his torso. He coughed up liquid, feeling large hands help him onto his side from his back. He pulled in air, sucking in oxygen in long gasps while coughing. He felt like he hadn't breathed in years, it burned but it gave relief at the same time.

He heard a deep, woman's voice beside him, the one who was helping him sit up somewhat. She said, "Breathe, take deep breaths, Steven." He was somewhat conscious of the fact she said his name, but he was too distracted with gulping air to be able to respond to this. His arms trembled against the sandy ground as he tried to keep himself upright on his side.

He tried to blink open his eyes but the bright blurry blotches on his eyes made him keep them shut. His head ached, his chest hurt, everything felt awful. His strange jewel felt like it was hurting too, but maybe that was just his imagination.

"Just keep breathing, you'll be alright," said the woman calmly again. Her words were somewhat reassuring, but not knowing who was speaking to him made him nervous. He suddenly felt too tired to wonder who she was though. He could only collapse back onto his back, breathing exhaustedly as he struggled to get back the air he'd lost.

He felt cold, his body shivered subconsciously. He felt the woman touch his forehead and he winced at the sudden pain it caused.

"She did a number on your head, didn't she?" the woman mumbled in concern. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I—" her voice broke a moment before she regained herself, "I couldn't find you anywhere. I was swimming all over the place for ages. I kept trying to swim where we last saw you fall, and you weren't there… And then I found you floating, unconscious, not breathing." She sighed, brushed the wet hair from his forehead and making him shiver again. "I thought it was too late— but you— you were alive and… I'm so relieved that you're okay, Steven."

He attempted to open his eyes again, squinting at the blurry colors trying to come into focus, and the sun shining at his right eye. He wasn't sure what he was looking at when his vision finally began to form. A woman? A purple person? _Three eyes?_ _An alien?! _He began to back up in horror, hands scrambling and slipping on the sand as he tried to back away from the tall creature in front of him.

She appeared alarmed at his reaction, looking behind herself a moment before looking back at him. "Steven, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

He shook his head, breath coming in frightened gasps as he struggled to form words.

"Steven, it's me, it's Garnet, you know me," her words sounded so convincing, but Steven couldn't understand. _What is she? Why does she look like that?!_ He coughed a few times, still weak from his earlier drowning. He only got a few feet away from her, considering he was slipping on the sand as he backed up, but it was enough for him to feel a bit safer.

She didn't approach him, she stayed kneeling where she was. She tapped her head and a yellow visor appeared. Her eyes were still slightly visible behind her shades. She looked so confused, so troubled. "Steven," she tried again, "what is it, don't you remember me?"

Despite how afraid he felt, he still managed to shake his head slightly. He didn't know who she was, or what she was, and it _terrified_ him. The movement caused him to feel worse and he fell back a bit on his rump. Something in his body felt off…

She furrowed her brows further, looking down at her hands for a moment. "I didn't— see this as a possibility… I—" She clutched the sides of her head in clear remorse. "I'm so sorry, Steven. Your head— I saw you getting hit but I—" She shook her head to herself. "I didn't know this was going to happen, I saw you'd be okay. I tried to help, I…"

Steven stared in confusion, still unsure whether to run or stay where he was; if he even could run that is. She appeared to have known him, but he wasn't just going to approach her based on that alone. She could be pretending, right? But… she _did_ save him. He wasn't completely avoiding her; he just was being cautious.

He didn't even know where he was either, some sort of beach with rock formations. There was also a kind of cliff behind him, and a house leading up to a hill that he couldn't get a good view of. Large, burned sand marks were scattered around them as well, as if someone was using explosives or weaponry.

The sky looked orange and pink, the sun was going down, and dawn was settling in. But what happened before he was stuck in the bubble?

He remembered the year; he remembered the day and month. He even remembered the most basic things, like certain education and gem facts, which he still wasn't sure what gem entirely meant. A lot of the gem facts didn't make sense. Fusion? What's a fusion? A person who wasn't entirely human? Or was that a different fact? His head was still fuzzy; not all memories were completely in order and made sense.

He looked back at the woman staring at him. _Do all people look like this?_ He then noticed the two glimmering gems on her palms as she looked down at them. He was reminded of his own. Was she one of these _gems_? Was _he_ an alien, or monster too?

He quickly reached to his face with his sandy hands to check how many eyes he had. Just two, that's normal, right? Sand stuck to his wet face, water dripping down his forehead. He dug his fingers back into the sand, trying to wrap his tired brain around all this. Another pang to his stomach made him wince. He suddenly felt like he was going to pass out. _What's wrong with me?_

"Steven, I—" the purple woman began before another female voice yelled his name. He flinched in surprise, turning and looking at two figures running down the hill from the house towards them. He weakly began to shuffle back at the appearance of two more strange-looking women.

One with white skin, a white gem on her head, pointy blonde hair, and a spear in her hand. And the other woman was smaller, and had purple hair and skin, a gem on her chest, including some sort of spiked rope in both her hands. They were calling his name, looking worried and relieved.

But all he could feel was the panic shooting through his body at strangers running towards him with weapons. He struggled to get to his feet, trying to scramble away on his knees from the approaching women.

"Steven! _Oh my gosh_, you're—you're okay—!" the blonde woman began before she was suddenly stopped by the purple woman stepping in front of her.

The smaller alien stopped in her tracks beside the other, confused. "Yo, Garnet, what gives?" she said, more worried than irritated.

"Wait— you're going to scare him," the purple woman assumingly known as Garnet, began to say.

The shorter woman was baffled. "Scare him? What are you talking about? Garnet, we've been worried sick about him. Please let me at least make sure he's alright!"

"Yeah," the blonde woman agreed, looking exasperated and teary eyed, "That horrid gem launched him into the ocean for Pete's sake, none of us have been able to find him for days, and Greg has been crying his heart out searching for him— and—"

"Pearl," Garnet interrupted, more seriously.

The blonde woman, Pearl, stopped, letting Garnet finish what she had to say.

"Steven doesn't… appear to remember us…"

The duo widened their eyes, not speaking for a moment.

"What?" Pearl mumbled, clearly not understanding, "what— how? What are you saying? Are you saying he doesn't remember anything? He doesn't remember his name; he doesn't remember his father—?" Her voice began to get higher and panicked.

"I don't— I don't know," Garnet unsurely sighed, "I think he had a concussion, where he got hit in the head. I don't know how much he's lost though, I just know he didn't recognize me, or you two. And I don't want to frighten him further by trying to get to close to him." The last sentence was said in a sort of whisper, so he couldn't hear her.

"We… we just got him back, he can't lose everything that he knows— he can't…" the shorter woman tried, blinking in disbelief.

The three looked in the direction of the young man sitting on the sand. He shrunk back reflexively, wide eyes looking between the trio.

The shorter woman took a few steps past Garnet, kneeling a few feet away from him. She had tears in her eyes, and her voice sounded strained. "H-hey… Steven? You… you remember me, right? Amethyst? I'm Amethyst? And that's Pearl, and Garnet, we're the crystal gems, remember? Don't you remember your mom? And there's Greg? And Bizmuth and Peridot— and—" Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as her voice broke, and she fell to her palms. "You—you've gotta remember," she cried.

He felt horrible. He wanted to remember, he didn't mean to forget, why was she crying? "Don't… don't cry," he mumbled, unsure what to do. _I don't want her to cry… I just don't know her—I don't know who to trust._ "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, Steven. You didn't do anything wrong," Garnet said to him softly. She came and kneeled beside Amethyst, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Amethyst. Steven's memories aren't lost forever. I'm sure we can get them back, don't worry."

Amethyst sniffled, looking over at Garnet. "We… we don't know that."

Garnet frowned. "We can try, he's not lost forever; I know he's not… Don't give up so easily, we're the crystal gems, remember? We can get his memories back; nothing is impossible for us. It may even be like the rejuvenator incident. We could try to trigger those memories again." She sounded sure of herself and unwilling to lose hope in her words.

Pearl came beside Garnet, her hands clasping her spear to her chest. She had tears rolling down her face. "How do you know that can work? What if he never remembers anything again? How would that affect his life— how would that affect everything?" she spoke her thoughts aloud, the dread lacing her words.

"I don't know if it'll work, but all we can do is try," she replied.

They looked at him again, but he only stared in uncertainty. _Who are they? They obviously know me. They have to. And who's Greg and I have a mom and friends? Are they my friends? Are we __**all**__ friends? And I've been stuck in that bubble for __**days**__? What…_ His mind was reeling, he felt so sick, and so tired. He wanted to just sleep and forget about all his current worries.

He didn't want to think about what he was missing, it hurt his head too much. And why did his stomach hurt so bad too, was it his gem? He looked down at his gem, pulling up his shirt. He was surprised to see that it now had some sort of crevasse through it, like a crack. Was… was that always there?

The trio gasped in shock, causing him to pull his shirt down.

"Oh no…" Garnet mumbled, taking a few steps forward hesitantly.

Pearl tried to get past Garnet, but she stopped her. "Wait, Pearl, you'll scare him."

"I need to make sure he's okay, Garnet! Please—" Pearl cried, trying to squirm from her grip.

"You could worsen his condition by making him run or fall. Be careful about this, please," Garnet reasoned. "I don't think he'll understand."

Pearl stopped struggling, looking up at her. "We have to try. His gem is badly cracked, even if he doesn't know what's wrong, I have to try to get through to him."

Garnet hesitated before nodding once, letting go of Pearl and standing near Amethyst.

Pearl paused a moment before slowly approaching the frightened young man. "Steven," she said softly, concern edging at her tone.

He began to back up from where he sat, eyes widened and darting in fear as his body instinctively tried to bring him to safety; away from the possible danger before him.

She paused for a second, reconsidering her approach. The spear in her hand disappeared into bright, blue pixels as he clasped her hands at her chest. "Steven, please listen to me. I know you don't remember me, but…"

His back hit a boulder and his breath hitched. He kept backing against it even though he knew it wouldn't help. He was too weak to go around it, moving back was all he could accomplish. His sandals and feet dug into the sand as he kept pushing his feet forward slowly. _She's getting closer, what do I do? Do I run? Do I trust her? _His mind was conflicted on which option to side with. She put away her weapon, did that mean she wished to help?

She was only a few feet away now. "Steven… your gem… it's cracked, we—we need to help you fix it—"

He shook his head rapidly, eyes darting to look for any possible escape routes around her. He held up a hand over his gem to protect it, he felt like it was in danger. And he knew it was hurting a lot, he hated this feeling. Something was broken; not just his lost memories but the gem in which they spoke of. He realized they were right, but he wouldn't let them touch it though—he couldn't. "Don't… don't hurt me, please—" he croaked affrightedly.

She stopped in her tracks, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. She blinked them away. "Steven, I just want to help, I'm not going to hurt you."

He studied her face in silence.

She bit her lip, crouching down to his eye level and looking down at her feet. She then looked back at him. "Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"

He paused, unsure if this was okay to tell them. _Maybe they really could help me remember again… _He looked at his legs in front of him. "I remember waking up in a big bubble, I—I don't know how long I was there. All I can remember besides that is my name and that I'm a gem. I'm not sure… what a gem really is though—my head is just," he gripped his forehead in discomfort, "_foggy_."

Amethyst muttered a few infuriated words about someone called 'Jasper'.

Garnet glanced at her unreadably, then began to come beside Pearl. She came a bit closer than Pearl was, holding out her right hand to him. "Steven, please listen. You may not remember us, but we're your friends and we just want to help. Your gem, the stone on your stomach, is badly damaged, and if we don't fix it soon, it could… crack in half."

"Please trust us," Amethyst said, joining them. "This is serious, man, I know you probably don't understand, but…"

Steven took a moment to think, trying to process all they said. He placed his left palm on his gem, wincing at the pain it caused. He felt so broken, so lost; he wished he could understand why this was happening. He wanted to trust them, he really wanted to remember everything. But should he trust them? Did he really have a choice?

Finally, he inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm his trembling down a bit. "O-okay. I… I'll let you help me."

They looked somewhat relieved, and Garnet slowly came over carefully and gently picked him up. The movement made his stomach lurch and his panic grow, but he did his best to remain calm. His gem felt like it was vibrating, it was screaming for help internally. He wished the strange pain would go away as he lied his forehead against the woman's chest. _They're really going to help me…?_

"Alright, we need to take Steven to Rose's fountain," Garnet told the others.

Pearl nodded frantically, following after her and Amethyst. "Please tell me he'll be alright… He's never had his gem cracked this bad, has he?"

Amethyst frowned, running through the sand. "I don't think he's ever cracked it before…"

Garnet didn't answer, approaching the top of the hill. "Just hang in there, Steven. You'll be alright, everything will be okay."

Steven looked up at her. He didn't know her, he didn't understand a lot of what was happening, but for the moment, he felt like he could trust her. He thought he could maybe trust them. Even with the pain and confusion, he was able to hold onto a tinge of hope that everything _was_ going to be okay.


	3. The Fountain

_The SUF hiatus is pain, have another chapter._

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Steven closed his eyes slightly as a warm breeze wafted by, causing him to shiver from his damp clothes. Once the breeze left, he looked ahead up at the orange sky, then turned his head to his left. He frowned and realized where they were headed.

He studied his surroundings with uncertainty as they approached what appeared to be a massive, statue of a women with multiple arms and faces, he'd seen a glimpse of it before when he was on the beach, but up close it was much difference. Underneath this statue was a large, intricate beach house and some sort of circular dome attached to it. The statue towering above it looked so threatening, so frightening; he swore he could see the tip of a lighthouse on top of the hill it was affixed to.

"Do—do you think maybe his memory loss is due to his gem?" Amethyst suddenly said as they walked up the stairway of the beach house.

He dragged his tired eyes to look at the two gems walking close beside Garnet.

"I don't know. Possibly," replied Garnet.

"Maybe the fountain can fix it if so," Amethyst continued in a somewhat desperate tone. "It fixed corrupted gems, it could do more than that, right?"

Garnet reached the top of the deck and opened the screen door. "Let's hope it can."

Steven took in as much as he could of the new room they entered as they passed through it. A door, a stairway, a kitchen, a couch and table, woodworks above, pictures, and nick knacks, and ahead a room full of cave-like walls and crystals. There was a door on the far wall which had metallic, shiny surfacing all over it, and a circular structure sticking out of the ground. The room was so strange and intriguing, like something out of a science fiction novel.

They all stepped onto the circular foundation, and they looked at him. Garnet spoke up, "This… may be strange, but don't worry, you'll be fine," she assured.

Steven opened his mouth to ask what she meant before he felt the gravity beneath them falter. He jerked in her arms as the world suddenly fell away beneath them, and everything looked blue and blinding. Some sort of blue aura surrounded them, pulling them up into the sky, far, far above. His heart thudded violently, he held his breath for a few moments, causing more pain.

Garnet's palm squeezed his shoulder in assurance, and then it was over just like that. He realized his eyes had been closed and he opened them in surprise. He felt the gravity around them was stable again, and the air smelled of roses, and fragrance. He slowly got over his initial shock as he looked at the shrubbery and gardening around this new area leading to a large fountain ahead.

"What… what happened?" he thought aloud in a low, troubled mumble.

"We used the warp pad to warp from the house over to this garden we're now in," Garnet explained, "it's a lot like teleportation. It helps us get from place to place."

He couldn't completely believe what he was hearing. That felt so surreal.

"Hurry, Garnet. We can't waste any time," Pearl said worriedly, tugging Garnet's arm. She sounded so scared. He could tell by the way everyone looked and was acting, that they were all terrified. _Why are they so worried though? I'm fine,_ he thought to himself wearily.

He felt dejected unexpectedly, and tears burned at his eyes. _No, you're not_. His gem began to cry out in pain again. He winced once more, and he tasted blood.

They came up to the fountain, and Steven looked up to see it was carved as a large, beautiful woman who looked like her tears were filling it up. A strange, longing feeling tugged at his gem, but he didn't know what it meant.

He then realized he was being lowered into the water. He pulled himself higher up in Garnet's arms in alarm. "Wha—?" he blurted.

"Steven, it's okay, the water will help you," Pearl said honestly, placing her palms on his arm to calm him.

"Trust us, it will fix your gem," Garnet agreed.

"Yeah, man," Amethyst said with furrowed brows.

He took a moment to look at them, reading their faces carefully before he hesitantly loosened his grip and let her lower him. Even though he was cold before, he was still chilled from being put in the fountain since the water was so cold. He shivered, his head the only thing not underwater. His shirt floated upwards on him as the water moved around him.

He widened his eyes in surprise as his gem began to glow white and sparkle. _What's happening? _He thought worriedly.

It was almost instantaneous, the crack in his gem disappeared and he felt like a weight had been lifted from off his body. It was as if he could breathe again, like the life had been sucked from him before. _I… really _**was** _dying… _he realized. His gem looked brand new, it _felt_ like new. He didn't know how the fountain helped but he was glad he felt much better than before.

He was raised from the water and Garnet gave him a slight hug as she held him. He tensed but accepted it.

"That was a close one—I'm glad you're okay," Garnet smiled softly. The other gems came over and placed caring hands on him. He didn't feel too uneasy about it, they did help him, they genuinely seemed to care about him, they said they knew him. But who were they in relation to him? Right now, he just really wanted to accept this hug from this stranger who saved him.

He slowly drew his arms around Garnet, returning the hug with gratitude. "T-thank you."

She was surprised to receive one back but accepted it gladly. "You're welcome, Steven."

"Steven," Pearl began slowly, "do you… do you remember anything _now_? Anything at all, anything new?" There was a rise of hope in her tone and her sparkling, blue eyes.

He wondered how well he knew this Pearl, she seemed so caring and worried about him when they said he'd been gone, and they got him back, but he didn't know how to feel about it all. All he knew was he woke up alone then drowned, and strangers rescued him. He remembered little except his name and things he'd learned. Nothing felt like it had changed.

He looked back at her sadly. "I don't… I'm sorry. I—I think I do know you though, don't I?"

Pearl gave him a sad smile; the others gave him similar looks. "Of course, you do, Steven," Pearl replied, "we're your friends, we helped raise and teach you, we…" She bit her lip with clear pain. "We're your _family_ and we care a lot about you, everyone does."

"Everyone?" Steven mumbled. _Who's everyone?_

Amethyst wrinkled her brows, looking at Garnet. "How are we supposed to tell Greg and the others? 'Hey, we found Steven finally, but he doesn't remember anything.'" She sighed in frustration. "It's not fair. Just when we get him back, everything has to go wrong again. Jasper's gonna pay…"

Garnet kept her calmer composure. "Calm down, Amethyst. We'll figure things out. And we don't even know where Jasper went after the attack, no one has seen or heard from her, so there's nothing we can do about her right now. We'll just have to figure out ways to get Steven to remember, I'm sure they'll come to him in due time." She smirked at Steven.

He looked at her, still cradled in her arms. He could walk by himself now probably, but he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to. What if he got lost or fell into a hole or something? He cringed at the thought.

"For now, let's go at least let Greg know, and some of his friends, that he's okay," she continued.

Pearl nodded regretfully. "Yes, they've all been coming everyday to ask if we've found him yet. We should let them know the news. Even if he doesn't remember anything right now… I'm just glad he's alive and here." Her eyes got glassy with tears for a moment.

"Who is Greg?" he suddenly thought aloud.

They looked at him, a second of silence passing.

"Greg is your dad, man," Amethyst explained with a tone as if he should know, "he's gonna pull you into a huge hug, memories or not, so you better be prepared. He really cares a lot about you."

He stared at the purple gem in surprise. _My dad? So, I do have parents then!_ "And… and who's my mom?"

The room suddenly felt very cold and awkward.

"She's…" Pearl began unsure.

"That's a story for another time, Steven," Garnet said, "for now, let's just introduce you to your dad and some others—I'm sure that will help trigger some memories."

He nodded, looking back to his left to glance at the fountain. They walked back to the warp pad, and Steven felt like the strange women were now a bit sad. Had he done something wrong?

They seemed to stand there for a few moments quietly, he thought they were thinking. He flinched when Amethyst suddenly groaned loudly.

"Ugh, how are we even going to explain Rose to him? Or like, anything he's even been through?" she said abruptly.

Steven looked at her, waiting for an answer from the other two.

"Let's just take one step at a time," Garnet said calmly.

The warp pad pulled them back into space in a blinding flash.


	4. Father Son Reunion

_Screaming over the new episodes and screaming for the next one, enjoy this emotional chapter._

* * *

Time seemed to pass in a confusing, distracting blur as the gems brought Steven back to the beach house, then outside and into a car, and then they began to drive through a strange, small town. They told him it was called Beach City, and he grew up here, and how he wished he could remember that. They seemed to be patient with him, willing to answer all his questions, even the simple ones he probably should know, like, "How old am I? What year is it? What day of the month is it?".

He just couldn't help but keep asking questions, he felt like he was missing everything. And the more he knew the better he felt. He was still slightly wary of these three people, but he believed he could trust them. So far all they'd done was help.

They soon came out of the town, and Steven took every opportunity to stare out the window and take in this new world that felt so unfamiliar to him. He was wrapped in a yellow towel, and two wet blue and red towels were on the floor. They told him to try to dry off, and to just relax, but he was too distracted with the outside world to do even that.

His ears blocked out their conversations as the scenery took in his full attention. It gave him this weird, longing feeling again in his chest and gem, like he could feel something was truly missing. He still couldn't quite pinpoint what it meant.

He noticed that Amethyst was silent as she would glance at him once and a while beside him, and out the window. He could tell she was upset; he didn't know if it was because something he did or not though. He felt stupidly clueless to everything and it made his stomach knot.

Steven's ears picked up his name and he looked back at the front seats, shifting his legs uncomfortably. They were speaking about ways they could try to gain his memories back again, but it all seemed to go over his head as they kept mentioning this rejuvenator, and Bizmuth and Peridot. He placed a hand on his gem instinctively.

"Alright, we're here," Pearl said sometime later, startling Steven out of his trance. He looked up from his gem and pressed up against the left window, eyes widening at the huge city they were suddenly surrounded by.

"What is this place?" he murmured against the glass, taking in all the colors and buildings and strange-looking people. They all had gems too; they were like him, but they looked a lot different. He struggled to pull hidden the information from his head.

Pearl looked at him from the mirror above as she drove, a small smile on her lips as she furrowed her brows. "This is Little Homeschool. You and all of us have been helping to teach gems and make a home for them to stay in here on Earth. We've been trying to help gems find their true purpose and happiness after…" she trailed off and bit her lip as she thought over her next words. "Well, after a lot of things have happened, but we'll get to that later."

He stared at Pearl's face in the mirror as she looked back at the road. "It's a school? I'm a teacher?"

Pearl frowned. "Well, something like that, yes, you do help teach people sometimes. That's what you've always been good at: helping people." She smirked at the last sentence.

His eyes brightened in wonder. "I help people?" His gem felt like it slightly vibrated. "I wish I could remember that." He looked at a building in construction they passed by.

Garnet looked over her shoulder at him with a soft smirk. "Don't worry, you will soon. I'm sure the more we show you, the better chance you have at remembering things."

He remained silent but took her words to heart. He glanced at Amethyst beside him. She was turned away and her arms were folded, by her positioning he got the feeling she was really sad. He wished he knew how to help her, that's what they said he does, right?

Pearl parked the vehicle and they all started to get out, but just as Steven began to as well, Pearl pushed the door back on him somewhat, and he shrunk back. "Hold on a moment, Steven," Pearl told him with concern. "We're going to go get your father and tell him what's happened, you stay here and—"

"It's a bit too late for that," Garnet said, rubbing the back of her neck as they looked to the left, hearing the sound of running feet.

"Hey!" yelled an older man's voice.

Steven looked in the direction of it, peering out a little through the opening of the half-closed door.

"Oh, Greg—" Pearl began, her voice a mixture of pleasantry and guilt as he ran towards them. "How are you?"

Greg stopped in front of her, looking at the other gems standing around the car. He looked tired and worn, almost like he hadn't been sleeping. "I've been better… do you have any more news about my son? Have you found him yet?" His voice came out so broken that Steven couldn't help but feel a pained tug in his chest.

_Is he this broken about me being gone?_ Steven thought, clutching the inside door handle tighter, _He… he looks like he really cares about me. The gems weren't lying._

Pearl opened her mouth to speak but Greg gasped when his eyes fell on the door Pearl had her left palm on.

"_Steven!" _Greg yelled in shock, tearing open the door and making Steven fall forward slightly. He pulled the young man into a tight hug, tears falling down Greg's face as he continued to say his son's name with relief and joy and sadness. "You're okay! Y-you're really okay! Oh thank God, Steven—"

Steven blinked, unsure how to react to the sudden embrace from this stranger that seemed to care so much for him. He was being squeezed so tight he had trouble breathing properly, and his towel and arms were stuck at his sides. He glanced at the man's joyful, sad face; eyes unable to tear away from it. _This… is my dad? _he thought with awe, feeling overwhelmed and strange.

His dad withdrew from the hug and held him out to look at him, wiping some tears from his eyes. "I'm—I'm so happy you're okay. Y-you… where were you? Were—were you stuck under the ocean? Did you get trapped somewhere? I'm so sorry, I should've been able to help you—"

Steven tilted his head, furrowing his brows as his father continued to ramble and apologize. "It's… it's okay," he said slowly, unsure how to respond. "I'm okay… I think…"

Greg knitted his brows, pushing the bangs from Steven's eyes and studying his face. Steven looked confused and distant, and the older man noticed it immediately. He seemed to sense something was wrong and looked at the crystal gems who seemed to be looking in the other direction. "What happened?" he asked, in a sterner tone now.

Garnet looked to Greg, folding her arms and adjusting her shades. "Steven… appears to have lost his memory."

Greg widened his eyes, looking back at his son who was more interested in the ground now. "What?" he gasped.

"We don't know how it happened," Pearl explained, "it may be because Jasper hit his head during the attack, but he can't remember any of us or anything besides his name."

Greg was at a loss for words, looking between the gems and back at the boy. "Steven, hey," he shook him slightly, making the young man look up at him. Greg's eyes teared up slightly again, and he tried to blink it off, showing Steven a pained smile. "Don't you remember, son? You don't remember your own father? You don't remember your mother or the crystal gems?"

He grew a bit more attentive at the mention of his mother, but he remained silent, only shaking his head softly. His father grew sadder at the response, and Steven wished he had just pretended he knew so he didn't have to see another person in pain. "I'm sorry," he said. "I want to remember." He wanted to call him father, but it just felt too weird. Even if he was his dad, everything just felt off. He couldn't know anything quite for sure.

"How… how is he supposed to get his memories back?" Greg asked, looking to the gems. "I just got him back and he doesn't even know me." His voice faltered somewhat as he blinked.

"I'm sorry, Greg," Garnet said, "we are hoping that maybe showing Steven things that he's known will help trigger his memories, so far it hasn't seemed to work. We're not going to give up though."

Greg remained silent for a moment, looking off to the side and at the ground. He looked to his son then back at Garnet, his expression more of guilt now. "Where'd you find him?"

Garnet looked conflicted. "I found him floating in the ocean, he wasn't breathing, but I don't think he was there long because I was able to revive him quickly. He told us he awoke in one of his bubbles, he must've activated it to protect himself when he was knocked out. When I brought him to the beach, we discovered his gem was cracked and we—"

Greg immediately pulled up Steven's shirt to inspect the gem. "What?" he cried.

Steven pulled back in alarm, a protective hand going to him jewel as he backed up against the vehicle. "Don't touch that!" he barked, a sense of fear clouding his judgement.

The crystal gems tensed.

Greg paused, holding up a hand. "I'm sorry, I wasn't— I was just checking—"

Garnet placed a palm on his shoulder. "It's okay, Greg. He's just been a bit scared right now." She looked at Steven and carefully came over to him, making him shrink back somewhat. "Don't worry, Steven. No one is going to hurt you or your gem, Greg was only worried."

Steven stared at her shades, shivering slightly as he glanced at Greg and back at her. He felt a bit safer with the gems, he'd been around them more, and he wasn't entirely sure about this man yet. He was the first person that looked normal so far though. But was the man _normal_? He didn't have a gem like these people or him so far. He wished he knew the right plan of action.

He took a few steps past Garnet, taking shelter behind her as he kept a wary eye on the man.

Greg's expression grew more conflicted, but he didn't approach his son.

"We were able to help his cracked gem with Rose's fountain," Garnet continued, looking down at the young man behind her. "But we're unsure if _that_ could be the cause to his memory loss, and if so, I don't know what we could do to fix it. Right now, we're just hoping his amnesia wears off."

Greg exhaled, placing a palm on his forehead and taking in the information. He felt so stressed and overwhelmed. "I finally get my son back and he doesn't even know me." He sighed again, shaking his head. "At least I know he's okay though. I don't know what I would've done if I never saw him again… I was so worried he was…" His voice broke again, and he rubbed at his eye.

Pearl bit her lip guiltily, avoiding eye contact with Greg as she rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry, Greg. I'm truly sorry, I know that putting Steven in our care has always been difficult, and it was a tough choice, so we take responsibility for something like this happening. I know that Steven is older, and he can usually handle himself, but we still should've done more to protect him, he's still young and he's not invincible. I sometimes forget how fragile he is…"

Greg gave her a guilty look. "I don't blame you guys for what happened. None of us thought that Jasper would suddenly pull a move like this, and you've all been doing your best to take care of Steven over the years for a long time, and I appreciate that. There were some things that even I couldn't protect him from, I knew that from the beginning. Being half gem, his mother a diamond, it's not unusual for him to run into danger. And you all did your best to protect him now, you even brought him back!"

Amethyst frowned deeper, standing behind Steven. "Yeah… but we didn't bring everything back," she mumbled.

Greg sighed once more. "Memories or not, right now, I'm just glad my son is safe and sound." He managed a small smile.

Steven stared at the man, shifting his feet on the dirt.

Greg then frowned in realization. "Oh boy, we gotta at least let the others know he's okay too, they've been so worried. Everyone has, especially the off colors and his other friends. Do you think it'll be too much for him? We don't want to overwhelm him…"

Garnet shook her head. "I think it'll be okay. We just have to take things slow; I don't want Steven to accidentally lash out, he's still nervous and he doesn't remember his powers."

Steven tilted his head. _Powers?_

Pearl nodded. "I'm sure everything will be okay just as long as something crazy doesn't happen like the diamonds showing up." She was slightly exasperated at the thought before she regained herself. "I don't think anyone has talked to them regarding the news, most of the event of Steven missing has been localized in Beach City. It has been three days though and a lot of gems have communication devices…" She began to increasingly worry.

Amethyst rubbed at her forehead. "Awh, man. I forgot about the diamonds— I hope they haven't heard what's happened, they will _flip_ if they hear that 'pink' is missing again. I don't think they could handle that, especially since they could barely contain themselves when Steven wanted to stay on Earth."

Garnet turned to the young man, causing him to take a step back. "He'll be okay, when he's ready we can let him see the diamonds; for now, let's just let everyone know he's alright and get back home and let Steven get some rest."

Steven looked around at the others, feeling slightly weary. She was right, he was tired; from the drowning, and his cracked gem, and all the new memories that were now put into his empty head. And he felt cold and damp, and odd and confused. More than anything, he wanted to remember himself, and he definitely wanted to close his eyes and let his troubled head drift off.

"Okay, I'll go let the others around here know about Steven's arrival. You guys can deal with the whole 'no memories' part." He sighed. "Trying to explain that might take a while and I might get too emotional." He held his forehead then ran off down the path where the gems were talking and working ahead.

"Thank you, Greg. We'll wait here," Pearl called to him, some gems looking in their direction but not noticing Steven who was hiding.

Some time passed as they sat there and spoke to Steven, asking him again what he remembered and if he remembered certain things. It all came back to the same answers though, which was he just couldn't remember.

Eventually, Garnet suddenly stood up and looked off to the distance, her shades gleaming. Steven stood up and moved a bit behind her. "What is it?" he mumbled.

"Alright, Steven," Garnet said to him, "don't be afraid, okay? These people aren't going to hurt you, they're your friends too, and they've been worried about you. So just say hello, you don't have to embrace any of them if you don't want to."

He stared at her, unsure who she was talking about. He flinched when he suddenly heard multiple voices calling his name ahead of them. He turned and froze, staring at the large crowd of gems and people who were running with tears and smiles to greet him.


	5. Nothing's Familiar

Thanks for all the follows/favorites/reviews, It's nice to know people like my little story. ^^ I know I don't update often coz I'm busy, so I appreciate the support!

* * *

So many faces, so many people that seemed to know him and cared and cried over him. He felt the constant urge to run, to hide, his hands gripped Garnet's leg as people pulled him into a hug and gave him relieved looks and teary eyes. They had all been so worried, they told him how glad they were that he was okay, and he just nodded at their words.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, or how he was supposed to be acting. Should he feel very grateful for their worry, and how much they seemed to care? He just couldn't find himself returning as much of the love, he didn't know these people, at least he didn't feel like he should. He did appreciate their care, but it just wasn't the same. He wished something in his brain would click and remind him who these strangers were.

A small, green woman with triangular hair came up to him excitedly, telling him how relieved she was to see him alive. He barely heard what she was saying because all he could focus on was her pointy hair. _Why is her hair so weird, _he thought_, why is she so green?_

After the crowd of gem people began to calm down, he listened as Garnet began to explain his lost memory once again. She sounded calm about it, but the shakiness in her voice betrayed her. Just as the crowd had calmed down earlier, now they were in a loud panic once again. Questions were thrown left and right, they kept being shoved into his head.

_Why don't you remember us, Steven? _

_Don't you remember me? _

_You can't forget me, right? _

_Don't you remember this? _

_Don't you remember that?_

His brain swelled as he began to grow overwhelmed, his heart pounded and sweat dripped down his forehead. He looked left and right at all the people closing in on him. _Why won't they just leave me alone? It's not my fault— I'm sorry, please stop all the noise!_

Garnet stepped in front of him and he looked up at her in surprise as she blocked him from view. She addressed the anxious crowd, "I know you're all worried about Steven, and I am too, but rest assured we're going to try everything we can to get his memories back. For now, we don't want to overwhelm him, he's been through a lot already and we just wanted to let you all know that he's at least safe and sound right now."

The blue gem, who introduced herself as Lapis to him, stepped up to Garnet. She clasped her palms at her chest, glancing at the young man hiding. "I'm sorry, Steven. We don't mean to overwhelm you, I know you don't remember us, but we're just your friends, and we care about you. I'm so glad you're alright, I was so worried, I hope we can somehow help you remember everything again, I hate to see you lose so much after you've finally come back to us." She gave him a soft smirk. "You just hang in there, okay?"

Steven stared at her with uncertainty, managing a slight nod.

Amethyst gave her a frown. "We're worried too, Lapis. We all just want to help, but Steven really just needs to rest for now and gain his strength back."

Pearl folded her arms. "Who knows, maybe sleeping will help him regain his memories."

Lapis nodded, looking at Pearl. "You guys let us know how we can help and if he remembers. You know we'll do whatever I can to help." The crowd shared affirmations to that.

The crystal gems thanked the crowd of fellow gems.

Steven jerked as Garnet turned and scooped him up into her arms protectively. She gave a nod to the crowd. "Alright, we're going to take him home to rest and get familiar with his surroundings. We'll talk again soon and let you know how he's doing."

The other gems agreed, waving at them and showing their care for him as the crystal gems headed to the car. Greg came out from the crowd, as he had been watching from the sidelines silently. He came over to his son and gave him a hug one last time before he was about to get in the car. His son awkwardly accepted the hug, standing there and blinking before Greg let him go gently. Greg just gave him a caring look. "You let me know if you ever need anything, shtuball, alright? I'm just a few blocks away, my van isn't far. I'm willing to help if you need me."

Steven managed a slight smirk. "Okay… Thank you." He looked at the crowd. "Thank you all for caring about me, I hope I can remember who you all are soon. I want to remember…"

Bismuth gave him a thumbs up with a grin. "Don't you worry, Steven, memories or not we'll stick by your side, you stay safe this time, and don't give us another scare and go missing!" She gave a hearty chuckle, folding her arms. "You get some rest and take it easy; we'll be here if you need us too."

Steven felt a bit warmed by that, they truly did care, and he appreciated it. He couldn't wait till he remembered these people who called him their friend.

The crystal gems then got back in the car and Steven watched the crowd of gems and his father wave at him as they drove back towards the beach house. The road back was relatively quiet, a calm silence was shared as the gems thought over their situation.

The exhaustion and nervous excitement from earlier were taking its toll on him as he blinked tired eyes, staring at the blurs of nature passing by his window. He swallowed his dry throat, feeling woozy. He felt so thirsty, his mouth was dry, and his tongue stuck to the base of his mouth.

When had he last drank water? If he'd been stuck in a bubble for around three days without water, it would explain why he was so thirsty. He may have a higher endurance due to being some sort of gem perhaps, but his thirst was still bad. And his hunger— his stomach suddenly growled at the thought.

Pearl looked over from the passenger's seat, drawing Amethyst's attention. "Oh, you're probably starving, aren't you? Being stuck under sea for so long, how horrible that must've been— when we get home, we'll make sure to find you something to drink and eat."

Amethyst looked at him, giving him a reassuring look. "Yeah! Don't you worry, man! I've got plenty of food always stuffed into the fridge. Even if you don't remember us, I'm sure you've gotta remember the taste of the food we've given ya."

He stared at her a moment before looking down at his lap wearily. He did remember the basic things like food he'd eaten, it was just strange he couldn't remember really any occasions when he had those certain foods. He lied the side of his head against his seatbelt. _Why is everything so confusing?_

**. . .**

They got to the beach house eventually, and even though he was told it was his home, it still felt alien to him. Once they got inside, they gave him a glass to fill up with water from the fridge. He didn't know it was humanly possible to down three cups of water so fast, and the others seemed genuinely surprised and concerned. It made his stomach stir but he easily ignored it as they showed him the fridge's contents.

There were so many different things he could eat, so many foods that would satisfy his hunger; he was so hungry that he'd honestly eat anything. So, he pulled out the first thing he saw: a delicious-looking hamburger with fries on a plate with plastic wrap around it. It looked new, as if someone had made it and saved it for later.

"Oh, you want the burger?" Amethyst said, watching him grab it out from the fridge, "I made that yesterday, I made around five for myself and saved one for later, you can have it though."

Pearl frowned, tilting her head in guilt. "Oh, but you're a vegetarian, Steven."

He looked at her with some surprise. "I am?" He almost said he didn't remember, but they already knew that by now.

"Well, yes— but you haven't eaten in days, so I'm sure it doesn't matter, you eat whatever you feel like, Steven." She smiled softly. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind either way if you were starving."

He just nodded without much thought and pulled the wrapping off, holding the burger up to his face. Drool immediately pooled in his mouth and he bit into the food anxiously.

The gems watched him in silence as he devoured the food in mere seconds, shoveling the French fries almost whole down his throat. He was so desperately hungry he could barely chew.

"Take it easy, Steven," Garnet said, "you'll get a stomachache eating that fast."

He wiped the crumbs from his mouth and sighed, feeling a bit better physically. He then came back to the fridge and grabbed a tupperware with a leftover turkey sandwich in it. He then began to devour that much to the gems surprise.

"I haven't seen him eat this much food in a while," Pearl noted mostly to herself.

"Well, that's what happens when you can't eat for three days," Amethyst replied with guilt.

Steven licked his lips and pushed the empty tupperware aside, sighing and lying his head in his arms tiredly but satisfied.

"Are you feeling a better, Steven?" Pearl asked, the other gems studying him expectedly.

He nodded, feeling the exhaustion kick in as he dropped his head further onto his arms. "Y-yeah… thank you," he murmured quietly.

Garnet smirked. "Of course, Steven. You look tired, would you like to go rest? I can take you to your room."

He looked up from his arms slightly. _My room… it sounds nice; I am really sleepy, _he thought,_ they've fed me food, rescued me from the water, and even fixed my gem, now they're offering me a bed? They're so nice to me, I want to know more about them. I'm sure I could sleep here; I can trust them. _He nodded once, blinking tired eyes.

"Alright," she said, coming over and scooping him up into her arms again. She brought him up the stairways he saw earlier, and his eyes lit up at the new room he was brought into. She gently sent him on the bed, and he looked around. "Is this my room?" he asked, moving his palms across the white comforter and inspecting the posters on the wall. The room was lit in an orange, yellowish light from the honey sky outside.

"Mhm." Garnet looked at the sunset by the balcony before coming over to his drawers; the other gems stood in the middle of the room. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of pajamas for him. She set it down on the bed in front of him. "Your clothes are damp; you can change into these. If you want to freshen up in the bathroom downstairs, you can use that too."

He wasn't sure about using the bathroom, he was too comfortable and enjoying moving his palms on the soft comforter to move. "I'm okay. Thank you." He noticed a pink sweater lying on the floor and he reached over the bed and picked it up. He, stared at the sweater, inspecting it for a few moments and rubbing his fingers over the soft material.

Garnet watched him curiously. "Familiar?"

He paused before he frowned. "I don't know. It's a nice sweater though." He held it up to Garnet to give it to her.

She smiled. "It's not mine, Steven, it's yours."

He blinked, dropping his arms. "Oh, sorry."

Pearl clasped her hands at her chest with a hint of sadness in her smirk.

"No need to apologize, silly." Garnet walked over to the end of the bed. "I'll let you change and get some rest now, if you need anything, just call one of us, we're inside the door near the warp pad."

He processed this information. "Okay," he said quietly.

"Good night, Steven. We'll do our best to help you remember again, just get some rest for now." She held up her hand with a slight wave then headed down the steps.

"Good night, Steven, sleep well," Pearl mumbled, seeming lost in thought as she stared at him as she left towards the stairs.

"Yeah, sleep well, man; you need us just call us, kay?" Amethyst said, following Pearl. "Night, dude!"

He just grunted in agreement, listening to their footsteps fade away as they mumbled some things he didn't hear. He admired the sweater and room once more before he began to slip off his damp clothes and change into the blue, soft, cotton pajamas.

He slipped into the bed, continuing to glance at his surroundings. What a strange, beautiful place. It seemed like the people he met all knew him and they cared so much for him, they were so nice, and he didn't feel like he deserved it.

He stared at the ceiling, his eyes growing heavy. He wanted to get to know everyone, to see more of this strange city. He was sure that soon he'd remember everything he lost. Soon…


End file.
